


The Fate Of The Cutter “Alicia”

by Cerdic519



Series: Further Adventures Of Mr. Sherlock Holmes [89]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Edwardian, Boats and Ships, F/M, Justice, Killing, M/M, Slow Burn, The Royal Navy, Trains, Untold Cases of Sherlock Holmes, manhood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 08:12:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15792555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerdic519/pseuds/Cerdic519
Summary: It's a question of Manhood and murder as Sherlock and Watson travel down to rural Sussex to solve a brutal and unnecessary killing where once again, it is justice rather than the law that has to be applied.





	The Fate Of The Cutter “Alicia”

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bookworm4ever81](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm4ever81/gifts).



_Introduction by Sir Sherrinford Holmes, Baronet_

This, the last full year of my brother Sherlock's career, was a busy one for his friend Watson, and his habit of only vaguely referencing important changes in his life has led to some confusion. It is believed that he set up a new practice that year and that he made a third marriage as Sherlock mentioned a commitment in _The Blanched Soldier_ , one of the few stories that he himself narrated. In fact the 'wife' Sherlock was referring to was Dame Agatha Turnberry, who had funded a busy clinic on Queen Anne Street and had suddenly found herself a doctor short. As she was the sort of woman who had lived her first sixty years without encountering anyone who had dared to say 'no' to her, Watson duly agreed to work full-time again and his increased absence from my brother's life was resented with a stroppiness that was quite unbecoming a man of his years and abilities.

This next case was another of those recorded as one to which Holmes had been unable to find the solution. In fact he did, but for reasons that will become apparent as the story unfolds it could not be released at the time. The whole thing was painful to both men, as it involved foul and utterly indefensible actions by an organization that Watson in particular had hitherto held in the highest esteem, to wit the British Royal Navy. And once again, it was justice rather than the letter of the law that Sherlock had to apply.

۩۩۩۩E♔RI۩۩۩۩

_Narration by Doctor John Hamish Watson, M.D._

I had probably known Holmes for too long at this point in our acquaintance, for I knew instinctively that something was very wrong. He had received a telegram the day before and had gone out immediately on some errand that was presumably related to it. He had not said what it was about, but on his return had asked me to accompany him to the Hundred of Manhood in Sussex, the peninsula that juts out into the English Channel south of the town of Chichester. And having travelled by carriage through a landscape that was almost totally devoid of life, we had skirted the small town of Selsey and were at a cottage in the nearby hamlet of Church Norton where an elderly lady had just opened the door to us.

That was her, lying flat on the ground. She had taken one look at Holmes and promptly fainted! He did not look that bad!

۩۩۩۩E♔RI۩۩۩۩

Mrs. Edna Berry – for that was the lady's name – eventually came to with the help of some smelling salts that I had in my bag, although she still seemed incredulous that we were there.

“Bert said you must get _thousands_ of letters”, she said, still looking at us incredulously. “Waste of a stamp writing you, he said. But poor Gert, she's so upset by it all, and I thought, why not?”

“Your letter was sufficiently intriguing for the doctor and myself to travel nearly one hundred miles though an indifferent English spring”, Holmes smiled. “Pray compose your thoughts, start at the beginning, and tell us all. I believe that you are concerned over the disappearance of a boat?”

She nodded and began her tale.

“My sister Gert, she married a fisherman from West Wittering, a small place up the coast”, she began. “I'm sure it's hardly less dangerous than my Bert working in the naval docks every day, but it seems to have done for Fred, her husband.”

'Seems to have', I wondered. Was there any doubt? Holmes smiled at the lady and that seemed to calm her a little.

“Fred was asked to help out with repairs to a smart little cutter that was owned by a Hayling fellow”, she said. “The money was good and they could get cover for the boat he was on, so he said yes. All I know is the name of the boat, the _“Alicia”_. A small thing, so Fred told Gert, used just for pleasure. Nice if you've got time and money for that sort of thing, I suppose.”

“I don't know the whys and wherefores of what happened next but the fellow who had ordered the repairs was iffy about paying once they were all done”, she went on. “Proper High Church fellow, very snooty and right up himself, Bert said. So Fred and the boys had a bit of fun at his expense. The boat had one of those figureheads on the front, and he and the guys carved some, uh, rude words on it.”

I bit back a chuckle. Holmes however was frowning.

“Before the toff paid up, they decided to take the boat out and make sure she was sea-worthy”, the lady continued. “That was two weeks ago today. She went into a patch of mist and was never seen again.”

“How do you know about the mist?” Holmes asked.

“She passed Fred's brother, Bill, out in his trawler not long before”, she explained. “He told me he was sure that was the same boat; he'd seen it being repaired. He couldn't see the name on it of course, but he was sure he could make out that figurehead. Bright blue with a yellow top, he said.”

Holmes was still frowning. What with his silence on the way down, I has an increasingly bad feeling about this case.

“But that's not the strangest thing, sirs”, she said earnestly. “I told you about that figurehead. It turned up again – and you'll never guess where!”

“Your husband's workplace”, Holmes said calmly.

She stared at him in astonishment.

“That's... that's amazing!” she said. “Yes, there's this place where they throw old wood and other stuff they don't want. Bert found it there, and he thought some of the wood around it came from the boat as well. Then one of the dockyard managers started yelling at him for some reason. He didn't know why; they've never had a problem with the guys taking stuff from there before. It's only scrap.”

Holmes looked even more worried now.

“I have an important question”, he said. “Did your husband check to see if this figurehead was there subsequently?”

She nodded.

“When he slipped back the next day it was gone”, she said. “And all the wood with it.”

Holmes folded his arms and thought.

“Mrs. Berry”, he said at last, “I responded to your letter so quickly not just because it was intriguing, but because I could see one possible explanation of the facts that, most regrettably, my own small inquiries and what you have told me today only serves to confirm. Now, I notice that your cottage is set a little apart from the town, which is good. I need you to do something for me.”

“Sir?”

“It may be that there is a perfectly innocent explanation for what has befallen your brother-in-law”, Holmes said. “But I rather fear that it may be something much more sinister. If I am right, then it is only fair I say that you and those close to you may be in considerable danger.”

The woman opened her mouth but could not speak. She was clearly very frightened.

“I would not alarm you without good cause”, Holmes said, “but I know the way that these things work. It is vitally important that you say nothing about our visit today, not even to your sister, and that your husband, although he must be told, does not relay that information to anyone. You must impress that on him most forcibly. The doctor and I will make sure to visit the post office and state that we are investigating a matter elsewhere on the peninsula.”

“You're scaring me!” she managed.

“I will have to solve this case quickly”, Holmes said. “Fortunately, I think that that will be possible. I will return as soon as I can, hopefully with better news or at least more comfort. Apart from your brother, do you happen to know who else was out on the boat when it disappeared?”

“The Appletrees, Jack and Jim”, she said. “Brothers, both good men. Is there... do you think....?”

“I rather fear that they are lost at sea”, Holmes said gently. “In cases such as this, we must strive to first protect the living, and then avenge the dead. I am sorry that I have brought you so little comfort today madam, but I must be honest with you. We shall see you again shortly. In the meantime, keep silence – for your own safety!”

We bowed and left.

۩۩۩۩E♔RI۩۩۩۩

It was a long carriage ride back to Chichester Station. Holmes seemed depressed, and my bad feeling was getting worse by the minute.

“This is deadly serious”, I said after a while.

He nodded, but did not seem predisposed to talk. We had done as he had said we would, walking into Selsey and mentioning a local landowner as having called for Holmes' services (I had actually caught the woman he had spoken to at the post office closing her counter so she could run out and start spreading such juicy gossip!). I wondered at the need for all this subterfuge, but knew my friend well enough by now to accept whatever he did, he did for a reason.

At the station Holmes purchased two tickets on to Portsmouth and we found a comfortable first-class apartment into which we settled.

“Deadly serious indeed”, he said at last. “Poor Mrs. Berry is in considerable danger, and if it were to emerge that she had called me in on the matter, even my life might be in peril. I should not have brought you with me today.”

I stared at him in shock.

“Not another government cover-up!” I exclaimed. He shook his head.

“Worse”, he said. “It is our sole advantage that the person we are going to see owes me a small favour for a private matter that I resolved for him some years back, but whether he will consider this too great a repayment – well, we shall see. I would rather that than the alternative.”

He would say nothing else, and seemed sunk into a depression of his own, And that worried me yet more.

I checked my gun.

۩۩۩۩E♔RI۩۩۩۩

We travelled across Portsmouth and alighted at the Harbour station, from whence we walked the short distance to the Royal Navy dockyards. Holmes presented his card at the gate and asked to see the man whose name was written on it. I wondered if this request would be refused, but a few minutes later the reply came back to admit us and a very short time after that we were shown into the offices of the Commander-in-Chief.

Charles Frederick Hotham was a tall grey-haired gentleman in his late fifties, and wary of us from the start. Holmes had told me not to take any notes in the meeting, which I also considered a bad sign.

“Mr. Holmes, Doctor Watson”, he said with a polite smile. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Holmes sat down, and I followed him.

“I am afraid that is far from 'pleasure' that brings me here this fine day”, Holmes said heavily. “It is about the killing of three innocent men.”

There. A definite twitch on the admiral's face.

“A killing?” he said. “That is serious. How did it happen, pray?”

Holmes sat back.

“Some five years back I read about a new high-speed boat that some private entrepreneur was building at Newcastle-on-Tyne”, he said. “It achieves its great speed through the use of some method called turbines. Technology is an interesting thing at times.”

“Indeed”, the admiral agreed.

“However”, Holmes said, and his tone was suddenly sharper, “I did note the article for one thing the journalist had obviously not followed through on, namely the potential problems arising from this vessel. The greatest navy in the world would not be inclined to accept some upstart jackanapes coming out with an invention that they had not. There have been plenty of instances of governments and large organizations using – abusing – their positions of power to seize the efforts of lesser men, or copy them and then claim the credit for themselves. This, I believe, is what was intentioned here.”

The admiral's smile was now notably strained. 

“The Royal Navy, to its discredit, developed a rival to this _“Turbinia”_ , fully intending to steal the ideas of that entrepreneur. If the speeds claimed for this method of propulsion are to be believed, then the first navy in the world to implement it in all their ships would enjoy a sizeable advantage over their enemies for some years to come. And I would conjecture that like all such technologies it can only be improved, so that advantage may well be retained for quite some time.”

“That is an interesting speculation, sir”, the admiral said. “Have you any facts to back it up?”

Holmes smiled dangerously.

“As you say, sir, pure speculation”, he said. “But I have several acquaintances in the journalistic profession, and some of them are definitely of the sort who would quite happily poke around the dockyards – and its many, many workers - until they found evidence of this vessel.” He hesitated before adding, “I meant to say, this _speculative_ vessel.”

“That, sir, would be an act of treachery to this nation”, the admiral said forcibly.

“Obviously, sir, you have not read the works of the good doctor here”, Holmes replied. “Justice before everything is my creed, and everything includes patriotism. I love my country, but I will not stand aside and see innocent men killed because some idiot of a captain drove the Royal Navy's fastest ship through the middle of their cutter. And to his utter shame, then went and left the men to drown in an attempt to cover up his foul deed!”

I stared at him in shock. There was a long silence.

“What do you intend to do?” the admiral asked. 

“As I said, my friends are quite capable of finding this craft or the people who have worked on it, and blowing this story across the front pages of the country's newspapers”, Holmes said. “If you wish to stop that, I will require you to do three things, and to leave here today with a written assurance that you will carry them out within the month. Otherwise I will act.”

“This ship, if it exists, could easily be dismantled in such a time”, the admiral said. Holmes looked sharply at him.

“I am not one to bandy threats around”, he said coldly, “but if the Royal Navy thinks that the German Kaiser is a problem, then they will find that _my_ displeasure is infinitely worse. Be assured that the top ranks in your organization would find every skeleton in their cupboards aired in the popular press at frequent intervals. Starting with a certain rear-admiral and his three wives – one in each major dockyard!”

I really wished that I had been allowed to take notes. The admiral went deathly pale at that.

“Say on”, he said quickly. 

“First, I require a written promise that no action will be taken against Mr. Albert Berry, his family and friends”, Holmes said. “As I am sure you would have been capable of divining, it was they who called me in to solve the riddle of the disappearance of Mrs. Berry's brother-in-law and two men from the latter's village, left to drown by one of your commanders.”

“That seems reasonable”, the admiral said. “Next?”

“My next demand will be more expensive for you”, Holmes said. “The Appletree and Featherstone families are of course hit by the loss of their men. Fortuitously an anonymous and rich Sussex philanthropist died recently, and his curious will stated that his considerable estate was to be realized and the cash then divided amongst the victims of the next accident off the Sussex coast. I have a feeling – and I am sure that I am right in that feeling – that he was very, very rich.”

“He undoubtedly was”, the admiral agreed. “And finally?”

“This demand will cost you less, but will be inconvenient for you”, Holmes said. “Not that that concerns me in the slightest. The commander responsible for the sinking will leave the Royal Navy. Much as I would prefer him to be fired in disgrace, and indeed left to the same watery fate to which he abandoned those poor men, I appreciate that such an action would be difficult for you so I shall allow you to offer him the option of quitting. However, if he is still here a month from now....”

“I could of course fire anyone”, the admiral pointed out, “and you would never know.”

Holmes smiled dangerously.

“Do you really think”, he said silkily, “that I will not find out? I shall check, just as I shall be receiving regular letters from Mrs. Berry in future. You are a man of honour, and you will adhere to this deal. And not just because you know that I too am a man of honour, and that my wrath is not to be incurred without severe penalty. Because after the trigamous rear-admiral, I might tell you that my next target will be a certain high-ranking naval officer to whom you yourself are related. And whose sexual pecadilloes involve the most improper use of naval equipment which makes the three wives look positively restrained!”

The look on my friend's face was, I would admit, frightening. Not for the first or the last time I was silently grateful that he was on the side of justice.

۩۩۩۩E♔RI۩۩۩۩

Once we were ensconced in our first-class apartment on the coach Holmes seemed to slump in his seat. 

“This is the downside of my work”, he said, sniffing mournfully. “The likes of the Royal Navy are as powerful as any government, more so if anything, and what I extracted from the admiral was probably the best that I could have got. But I still feel as if I have failed those three men.”

“You have done as much as you could”, I told him. “Are you sure that he will keep his word?”

“He knows me well enough that I will not stop in this matter until he does”, Holmes said. “We must repair to Mrs. Berry to re-assure her that all is about as well as it could be, and that she is safe. Fortunately we shall not have to hurry back to London.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Chichester”, he said, as if it were obvious.

I just stared at him.

“You would wish to see the cathedral”, he said. “And the old town.”

That he would think of such a thing when faced with a horrible case like this – well, it was fortunate that grown men do not cry.

I decided to leave the window open. Despite the dust that was getting in my eyes.

۩۩۩۩E♔RI۩۩۩۩

_Postscriptum: There were rumours in the papers for some time afterwards that the Royal Navy had tried out an experimental turbine-driven boat – called _“H.M.S. Celerity”_ , it was speculated – but it would be four more years before an efficient turbine came into military use on the famous _“H.M.S. Dreadnought” (1906). Holmes told me that a Captain Wedgwood Blair had resigned from the Navy the same day we had returned to London but that he would continue to monitor the fellow, to make sure that he did not try to slip back in again. Fortunately for both him and the Royal Navy, he did not.

_Holmes also told me the details of those 'pecadilloes' of the admiral's relation, as a result of which I could never look at a hammock again without wincing!_

۩۩۩۩E♔RI۩۩۩۩


End file.
